Knxwledge - Hud Dreems 2LP

Featuring all the excitement and groove of an early Madlib beat tape, Hud Dreems is the full-length instrumental debut from experimental hip-hop producer Glenn Boothe, aka Knxwledge. The 2015 album was released during a banner year for the producer, as his work landed on Kendrick Lamar's landmark album To Pimp a Butterfly, but with its brittle breaks, its love of the hallucinatory, and its kinetic flow, Hud Dreems has found a proper home on the underground tastemaker haven Stones Throw. Very little here runs past the two-minute mark, as beats are presented in a style for MCs to sample rather than being twisted into bloated instrumentals. The three-minute "Trsh" and the two-and-a-half-minute "demskreets.fekts" come off as epic in this environment, and both are head-bobbing highlights that deserve the extra space, but Knxwledge is skilled at twisting a beautiful melody just far enough so that it doesn't break. As he does so repeatedly, the album gains its cohesive feel. Scratchy soul and